Donald Glover to Host ‘Saturday Night Live’ Next Month

With season 2 of “Atlanta” in full swing and “Solo: A Star Wars Story” coming out next month, Donald Glover will make his hosting debut on “Saturday Night Live” on May 5, the show announced early Sunday.

The actor-writer-director will also perform as the show’s musical guest in the guise of his Grammy-winning rapper alter-ego, Childish Gambino.

This marks Glover’s return to NBC after previously serving as a writer and guest star on the network’s hit comedy “30 Rock” as well as starring in the cult hit sitcom “Community.”

Glover left “Community” midway through the show’s fifth season in 2013, citing a need for more independent projects. This led to his own series, “Atlanta,” on FX, a comedy that has already won him two Emmys and two Golden Globes.

Glover’s musical performance on “SNL” will be one of his final big performances as Childish Gambino, as he revealed at last year’s Governors Ball Festival in New York that he will be retiring from hip-hop after one more album. His 2016 album “Awaken, My Love!” went gold in America and earned a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year.

Glover will play the famed smuggler Lando Calrissian in “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” which will reveal how the future head of Cloud City first met Han Solo. Glover will also play Simba in the 2019 live-action remake of “The Lion King.”

Like Rafiki brandishing the newborn Simba on top of Pride Rock, Disney on Wednesday unveiled the full cast of Jon Favreau's live-action remake of their 1994 classic "The Lion King." The new version coming in 2019 boasts an impressive cast to replace the original's iconic voice actors. Let's meet them.

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Donald Glover as Simba

Oh, we just can't wait for Donald Glover to be King. Being Lando Calrissian isn't enough, he has to fill in for Matthew Broderick as Simba too.

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Beyonce as Nala

The Queen B is now the Queen of the Jungle, suggesting that the role of Nala is likely larger than in the original and might even include some new songs.

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James Earl Jones as Mufasa

Some casting is too perfect to touch. We're excited for the new cast, but there's no replacing James Earl Jones.

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Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar

Jeremy Irons was perfectly menacing as Scar in the original, but Ejiofor doesn't usually get to play the villain. Be prepared!

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Alfre Woodard as Sarabi

Woodard, who plays Simba's mother Sarabi, starred with Ejiofor in "12 Years a Slave" and has recently worked on Marvel's "Captain America: Civil War" and "Luke Cage."

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John Oliver as Zazu

We love Oliver's neurotic lectures on "Last Week Tonight," so he's a smart pick for Zazu, the ever irritated guardian for Simba. Rowan Atkinson voiced Zazu in the original.

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John Kani as Rafiki

Like Rafiki, Kani is a veteran wise beyond his years. But new audiences will come to know him as King T'Chaka in "Black Panther."

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Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner as Pumbaa and Timon

It means no worries with these two voicing the beloved warthog and meerkat. Ernie Sabella and Nathan Lane voiced the characters in the original film.

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Florence Kasumba as Shenzi

Kasumba is best known for her work on "Emerald City" and will also be in "Black Panther." Whoopi Goldberg played hyena leader Shenzi in the original.

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Eric André as Azizi

André plays another one of the trio of hyenas, but this time with a new name, "Azizi." We can perfectly see his irreverent, screwball persona matching what Jim Cummings did with "Ed" or Cheech Marin did with Banzai.

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Keegan-Michael Key as Kamari

Another new hyena. Maybe the "Key & Peele" star can bust out his Obama Anger Translator voice when he's saying, "Who's the pig?"

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JD McCrary as Young Simba

McCrary actually appeared on an episode of "The Eric André Show," as well as Tyler Perry's show "The Paynes."

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Shahadi Wright Joseph as Young Nala

Wright Joseph made her breakout role as part of the cast of "Hairspray Live!" and was even on Broadway for the stage production of "The Lion King."

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Jon Favreau is directing the movie, which arrives on July 19, 2019

Like Rafiki brandishing the newborn Simba on top of Pride Rock, Disney on Wednesday unveiled the full cast of Jon Favreau's live-action remake of their 1994 classic "The Lion King." The new version coming in 2019 boasts an impressive cast to replace the original's iconic voice actors. Let's meet them.